Apollo Creed

Apollo Creed (17 August 1942-31 August 1985) was an African-American professional boxer who was World Heavyweight Champion until 25 November 1976, when he was defeated by Rocky Balboa, the same boxer who had humiliated him on New Year's Day of that year by going the distance for the entire match. Creed and Balboa would become friends, and he later moderated the fight between Balboa and Clubber Lang. In 1985, he died in the ring against Soviet Olympic boxer Ivan Drago.

Biography
Apollo Creed was born in Los Angeles, California on 17 August 1942, and he became an boxer in order to advance from his family's poverty. He soon turned to professional boxing, and he was nicknamed "The Master of Disaster", "The King of Sting", "The Dancing Destroyer", "The Prince of Punch", and "The Count of Monte Fisto". Creed eventually became the World Heavyweight Champion, and, by the age of 33, he was the most feared and respected boxer in the world.

On 26 November 1975, the boxer Mac Lee Green, who was slated to fight Apollo in a 1 January 1976 match, broke his hand while training, and the other top boxers were already scheduled for other fights. However, Creed came up with a Bicentennial-themed idea in which he would allow for an up-and-coming boxer to fight him in an "American Dream" story; his promoter Miles Jergens chose Rocky Balboa after Creed compared the Italian-American Balboa to Christopher Columbus, the European explorer who explored the Americas in 1492-3. Creed did not believe that he needed to train, knowing that he was the most skilled boxer in the world, and he instead wanted to give the audience a good show. On New Year's Day, he wore Stars and Stripes shorts and dressed up as Uncle Sam and George Washington, and he fought "the Italian Stallion" in a grueling 15-round match, the first time that anyone was able to fight Creed for all 15 rounds. Creed was knocked down in the first round, the first time that anyone had ever knocked him down, and he later became the first ever boxer to break Balboa's nose. While Creed won by split decision, many saw Balboa as the true winner, and Creed - despite having promised Balboa that there would not be a rematch - ultimately challenged Balboa to a rematch due to the press humiliating Creed. In the second match, Creed dominated Balboa for most of the fight, but Balboa pummeled him until both of them fell in the 15th round. Balboa rose at the count of 9, but Creed was unable to get up, and Creed suffered his first ever loss. He regained any lost respect, as the public had seen him as losing in a fair fight, and he retired from boxing.

In 1981, he was a guest moderator at the fight between Clubber Lang and Balboa, and he told Balboa to drop the "chump" after Lang insulted Creed as a "has-been" and a "chicken". Creed trained Balboa for a rematch against Lang, and he even gave Rocky his Stars and Stripes shorts for the fight. After Balboa's victory, Apollo and Balboa had a private sparring match between friends, which Creed won.

Death
In 1985, the 43-year-old Creed came out of a five-year retirement to fight the powerful Soviet Olympic boxer Ivan Drago, who came to the United States to become a professional boxer. The patriotic Creed decided to fight Drago at the first MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on 31 August 1985, and he was highligted by a pre-match rendition of "Living in America" by James Brown. Creed was not ready for the extreme size and weight of Drago, who pummeled him badly in the first round. Balboa wanted Creed to stop the fight, but Creed refused, and he was dealt a fatal blow in the second round. Creed died in Balboa's arms, motivating Balboa to defeat Drago in front of the Soviet premier and Politburo in the USSR later that year.